Chapter 14: Jade Tears, a Tyrant's Touch, and the Abyss Gazes Back

Ling Chen's world shattered. Not in a metaphorical, poetic sense, but in a brutal, visceral way that left him gasping for air, his senses reeling, his mind struggling to comprehend the impossible. Zhan Yi, the Obsidian Tyrant, the protector, the one constant in this ever-shifting landscape of betrayal and deceit… had just killed him.

The image burned in his mind, an indelible brand seared onto his consciousness. Zhan Yi's face, contorted into a mask of chilling indifference, the glint of steel in his hand, the sickening thud as the blade pierced his heart… It was a vision that would haunt him for the rest of his days.

And then, nothing. A vast, echoing emptiness that stretched on forever, a void where all sensation ceased, and all thought dissolved.

But then, a spark. A flicker of awareness that refused to be extinguished. A stubborn ember of consciousness that clung to existence despite the overwhelming darkness.

He was alive? But how? He had felt the blade, the pain, the utter finality of death. How was it possible that he was still… something?

He tried to move, to open his eyes, but he found himself trapped, his body unresponsive, his senses dulled. He was a prisoner within his own mind, a disembodied consciousness adrift in a sea of nothingness.

"What… what happened?" Ling Chen murmured, his voice a mere whisper that echoed in the void around him.

"Master! You're… you're back!" A small, familiar voice piped up from somewhere nearby, cutting through the oppressive silence. It was the sentient silk boxers, their fabric fluttering with a mixture of relief and agitation. "I thought we had lost you there for a moment. It was most unsettling, I must say.

I'm far too young to be a ghost garment!"

Ling Chen blinked, his consciousness slowly returning, his senses gradually sharpening.

He could feel the presence of his underwear, a small, comforting anchor in the vast emptiness. But he still couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't feel anything beyond the faint fluttering of the sentient boxers.

"Underwear?" Ling Chen murmured, his voice a strained whisper. "What's going on? Where are we? Am I… dead?"

"That's a complicated question, Master," the underwear replied, its fabric wrinkling with anxiety. "Technically, you were… temporarily deceased. But it seems that your… unique constitution has allowed you to… circumvent the usual rules of mortality. Though I must confess, I'm not entirely sure how you managed it. Are you even real? Am I a hallucination?"

Ling Chen sighed, a silent exhalation of frustration. He knew that he couldn't rely on his underwear for a clear and concise explanation. He needed to figure out what was happening for himself.

He closed his eyes, focusing his attention inwards, reaching out with his Sensory Resonance to probe the surrounding environment. He could sense… something. A faint, ethereal energy that pulsed with a life force that was both familiar and alien. It was the same energy he had sensed in the crystal-lined chamber, the same power that had resonated from the Heart of the World. It was a faint glimmer of memory that was long gone but that he could never ignore.

He followed the energy signature, his consciousness stretching out like a tendril, seeking to understand its nature and its origin. The energy led him towards a single spot. Then all at once, the light came.

As his consciousness cleared and he saw the world right before his very eyes, he knew what came.

Then, with a jolt that sent shivers down his spine, Ling Chen's senses snapped back into focus. He could see, he could feel, he could move. He was no longer a disembodied consciousness adrift in the void. He was back in his body, lying on the cold, hard ground of the collapsing cavern.

The air was thick with dust and the scent of ozone, and all about him was the sound of everything collapsing.

He gasped, his lungs burning, his body aching in protest. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, his gaze sweeping across the scene before him.

The cavern was in ruins, the crystal-lined walls shattered and broken, the ground

He gasped, his lungs burning, his body aching in protest. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, his gaze sweeping across the scene before him.

The cavern was in ruins, the crystal-lined walls shattered and broken, the ground littered with debris. The air was thick with dust and the scent of ozone, a testament to the destructive power that had been unleashed.

And then there was Zhan Yi.

He stood a short distance away, his back to Ling Chen, his posture radiating an almost palpable sense of grief and… guilt? His sword was clutched tightly in his hand, its blade dripping with a dark, viscous fluid that Ling Chen didn't want to identify.

Hua Lian was nowhere to be seen.

Ling Chen's heart pounded in his chest, a mixture of fear, confusion, and a strange, unsettling sense of… longing? He didn't understand what was happening, but he knew that he had to confront Zhan Yi, to demand an explanation for his actions, to understand why the man he had come to trust had seemingly betrayed him in the most brutal way imaginable.

"Zhan Yi?" Ling Chen called out, his voice trembling slightly.

The Tyrant stiffened, his shoulders tensing, but he didn't turn around. He remained motionless, a statue carved from grief and regret.

"What… what happened?" Ling Chen asked, his voice louder now, laced with a mixture of anger and pain. "Why did you do it? Why did you kill me?"

Zhan Yi remained silent for a long moment, his body rigid, his head looking down towards the sword. "I'm so sorry" were the only words.

As if all the evil that he has done, are now being brought out. It was such a guilt to bear for one,

Ling Chen is still on the side, not moving. His body is aching all over the place but that didn't stop him. He needed to know the full story. He thought Zhan Yi had changed, but in the end they had to do it.

"I didn't have a choice," Zhan Yi finally said, his voice a low, guttural growl that seemed to vibrate through the very air. "It had to be done."

"Had to be done?" Ling Chen repeated, his voice rising in disbelief.

"What are you talking about? What could possibly justify killing me?"

Zhan Yi finally turned around, his face an impassive mask, his eyes filled with a complex mixture of emotions that Ling Chen couldn't decipher. He looked weary, haunted, as if he had aged a thousand years in the space of a few short moments. The loving gaze was lost, all that was left was darkness.

"I can't say it"

"That's not good enough," Ling Chen snapped, his voice rising in anger. "I deserve an explanation. I deserve the truth."

Zhan Yi hesitated, his jaw clenched, his body trembling with a barely suppressed emotion. He was clearly struggling, wrestling with some inner conflict that threatened to tear him apart. If something bad were to happen, then the world he knew might collapse.

Seeing Zhanyi like this, made Ling Chen sad.

Ling Chen then walked to hug the lonely wolf. In a soft voice, "tell me what's going on"

As he got closer, suddenly, the vision changed, and the world started to blur again.

"I want to be by your side, in this world. And in the next, and all the other to come."

Then the world went silent.

The Obsidian Tyrant lunged, and the sword came running straight to his face, but he didn't feel it.

He was alive, and stronger.

He was there. He was in some room, but not in control. He was in a place where time and space didn't exist, where the very fabric of reality was unraveling before his eyes. But also, he could see the power to change everything,

If the key to solving the world was at the cost of himself, would he save. He must.

But at that moment, the voice came out,

"To save the world, is to lose someone you love."

As Ling Chen stood at that place. An entity was shown before, and the entity hugged him.

But in an instance,

everything

went

DARK.